Edge Capital Group LLC Raises Position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Edge Capital Group LLC increased its stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 25.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC’s holdings in ASML were worth $254,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ASML by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,186,222 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,654,921,000 after buying an additional 31,879 shares during the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC raised its stake in ASML by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,226,971 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,855,624,000 after acquiring an additional 70,776 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in ASML by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,788,280 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,239,421,000 after purchasing an additional 31,231 shares during the last quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC boosted its position in ASML by 4.0% during the third quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 664,100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $553,361,000 after purchasing an additional 25,600 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in shares of ASML by 14.2% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 402,758 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $335,598,000 after purchasing an additional 50,115 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Price Performance

NASDAQ:ASML opened at $735.96 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $289.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $732.89 and a 200 day moving average of $757.27. ASML Holding has a 52-week low of $645.45 and a 52-week high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.67 by ($0.37). ASML had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 47.73%. On average, research analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 25.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a $1.5855 dividend. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on ASML. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 29th. DZ Bank upgraded ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on ASML in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $937.00.

ASML Company Profile

ASML Holding N.V. develops, produces, markets, sells, and services advanced semiconductor equipment systems for chipmakers. It offers advanced semiconductor equipment systems, including lithography, metrology, and inspection systems. The company also provides extreme ultraviolet lithography systems; and deep ultraviolet lithography systems comprising immersion and dry lithography solutions to manufacture various range of semiconductor nodes and technologies.